Liquid-based cytology as a tool for the performance of uCyt plus ™ and Urovysion® Multicolour-FISH in the detection of urothelial carcinoma

The aim of the study was to assess the value of liquid-based urinary cytology as a tool to perform uCyt+ and Multicolour-FISH in patients under follow-up after urothelial cancer. Therefore, standard cytology was compared to liquid-based cytology with the addition of the uCyt+ test, which traces the three monoclonal antibodies M344, LDQ10 and 19A211 in exfoliated urothelial cells; and Multicolour-FISH (including centromere-specific probes for chromosomes 3, 7, 17 and a locus-specific probe for 9p21/p16) performed on thin-layer specimens. UCyt+ showed an overall sensitivity of 86.2% and cytology of 45.0%. Overall sensitivity of both the tests combined was 90%. Sensitivity of Multicolour-FISH was 96.4%. All conventional cytology diagnoses were confirmed by liquid-based cytology. Liquid-based cytology is a valid tool for the performance of adjunctive analyses, such as uCyt+ and Multicolour-FISH, on residual cellular material.